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Paul Rodriguez
Paul Rodriguez is featured in the game, Skate. Somehow he is only in that particular game. In-Game At the beginning of Skate, he teaches you about Nollies and it's different flips. Later after you finish The Skateboard Mag's 2nd photo challenge, he is one of the skaters in town you have to impress to gain a sponsor. After you impress him, he gives you a choice of choosing Plan B as your sponsor or continue on with finding other skaters. Even though he is the one who gives you the challenge, Danny Way is the one who voice messages you about your progress. Career Rodriguez was initially recruited to the team of a local skateboard shop named "One Eighteen", managed by an Andy Netkin, who was 19 years old at the time, while Rodriguez had just become 14 years old. As he was too shy at the time, Rodriguez asked a friend to submit his "Sponsor me" video tape to Netkin, who was immediately impressed and asked the friend to bring Rodriguez into the store. Netkin then offered Rodriguez a place on the store team the following day at their first meeting—Netkin explained in 2014 that, at the time, he had a strong sense of Rodriguez's future as a "superstar."813 DNA Skateboards was Rodriguez's first company sponsor and he appeared in the 1999 video Microanalysis.14 Former professional skateboarder Anthony Pappalardo stated in a June 24, 2014 online radio show—hosted by professional skateboarder Alex Olsen—that he encouraged Joe Castrucci, cofounder of the Habitat skateboard brand, to recruit Rodriguez before he was officially sponsored, but Castrucci declined.15 City Stars At the age of sixteen, Rodriguez then rode for City Stars,6 a company founded by professional skateboarder Kareem Campbell in Los Angeles, U.S.16 Despite being an amateur at the time, Rodriguez earned the last part in the video Street Cinema, which is an honor typically bestowed to an esteemed professional of the team.17 Rodriguez explained in 2014 that he was initially opposed to Campbell's use of the Jackson 5 song "I Want You Back" for the first half of his part, as it had been used for Guy Mariano's part in the Blind Skateboards video Video Days, but conceded that at the time he "was oblivious to the statement he Campbell was trying to make by choosing that song."18 Alongside Mikey Taylor, Justin Case, Devine Calloway and Kevin "Spanky" Long, Rodriguez was an amateur team member, while the professional team included Lee Smith, Joey Suriel, Ryan Denman and Eric Pupecki. Rodriguez developed his interest in jewelry during this period, as Campbell was a collector and purchased Rodriguez a diamond bracelet. The period also influenced Rodriguez's musical taste, as he commenced listening to artists like Jay-Z and Nas due to the time spent with Campbell.9 City Stars had planned to release a signature skateboard deck design, featuring Rodriguez's name on the grill of a Mercedes Benz (Rodriguez's first car), but Rodriguez departure from the company resulted in the product's cancellation. Rodriguez explained in February 2013: "I specifically remember that I knew I wanted to quit and I felt like I could at least show enough respect and tell them before they spent all that money to print up my boards. I didn’t want to leave them with an inventory of boards they couldn’t sell so I made sure to quit well before they went into production."19 In 2014 Rodriguez described his time at the brand as "the most magical," with a team that possessed "enthusiasm and passion" that was "contagious."18 Girl Rodriguez was featured in Transworld Skateboarding's 2002 video, In Bloom. This video showcased a segment of sponsored, talented skaters who were at the start of their respective careers. Following the video's release, Rodriguez commenced riding for Girl Skateboards and achieved professional status in September 2002.620 Rodriguez explained in a 2013 interview that he was asked to join the Girl team by Eric Koston, who remains his all-time favorite skateboarder as of July 2013, and the moment was the most significant event in his skateboarding career, as it was "the moment that my Rodriguez's dream happened."21 Paul Rodriguez commented Eric Perez is a great skateboarder and also Andres Martinez They both went to my school and they were my best friends Rodriguez was sponsored by Girl from the age of seventeen to nineteen, and appears in the Girl Skateboards film Yeah Right. During this period, he shared a house with professional skateboarder and rap artist Jereme Rogers.11 In February 2013, Rodriguez identified his debut professional signature skateboard with Girl as his favorite deck graphic of all-time. The deck, released in 2002, featured the original Girl logo, Rodriguez's name (written in English), and the Spanish word "Muchachita", meaning "girl", instead of the usual "Girl" brand name. Rodriguez stated that "That was my first pro board and to have it on a company like Girl was awesome."19 In April 2013 Rodriguez explained that he "loved" his time with the Girl company and, prior to receiving contact from Danny Way—who asked him to join the relaunched Plan B company—he considered Girl a lifelong sponsor.8 Plan B Following Girl, Rodriguez joined the relaunched Plan B skateboard deck brand that was under the ownership and guidance of original riders Danny Way and Colin McKay, who continue to own the brand as of March 2014. Rodriguez released a solo Plan B video part, entitled Me, Myself, and I, in 2010.22 The inaugural Plan B full-length video has been a topic of discussion among the global skateboarding community for a prolonged duration of time, as promotional footage has been released and the company has been in existence for a significant period of time, with a renowned team established during this time period. A late November episode of the internet-based, weekly program, Skateline, broadcast on the RIDE Channel, showed footage of company co-owner and team rider, Danny Way, stating that the video would be made according to a schedule determined by the company regardless of external pressure.23 Seven out of Rodriguez's top ten skateboard graphics of all time are Plan B Rodriguez signature designs, according to an interview that was published in February 2013. A collaboration between Plan B and Nike SB is Rodriguez's second favorite graphic, while a Bruce Lee "Fury" deck ("Needless to say, Bruce Lee is my number one influence other than Jesus Christ ... it also shows the three scrapes he had on his face from Enter The Dragon. I love this one.") and a Muhammad Ali deck were also included in the list.19 As a guest on the radio show "Big Boi is in the Neighborhood", broadcast on Los Angeles' Power 106FM, Rodriguez confirmed his departure from Plan B in an interview that was published on the Internet on July 30, 2013. Prior to the confirmation, widespread speculation emerged in regard to Rodriguez's departure. During his winning performance at Stop 5 of the 2013 Street League Skateboarding contest in Portland, Oregon, U.S., Rodriguez rode a skateboard deck with the Plan B logo painted over24 and the company's logo was removed from his personal website as of July 16, 2013.25 Rodriguez explained in the interview that he is seeking to "own a little bit more of myself."26 Post-Plan B In June 2014, following the launch of his own skateboard deck company, Primitive Skateboarding, and his eighth signature shoe with Nike, Rodriguez explained his perspective of the future: The design for his Nike signature shoe was first leaked onto the Internet at the beginning of the year,27 leading to an intensive degree of discussion among consumers, described by the Ripped Laces website as "hate/skepticism."28 The corresponding advertisement featured Nike SB team member, Theotis Beasley, and was produced by the Wieden + Kennedy agency.29 In a promotional day-in-the-life photo diary for the Hypebeast website, published on December 16, 2014, Rodriguez revealed that his personal skateboarding park is scheduled for a remodeling process. He also stated that his daily caffeine fix brings "happiness," and that the only time his mind is clear is while he is skateboarding.30 At the beginning of 2015, Rodriguez was announced as the newest team member of the Glassy Sunhaters sunglasses brand, co-owned by fellow professional skateboarder, Mike Mo Capaldi. His signature sunglasses model is scheduled for release on February 10, 2015.31 Category:Pros